Decisions, decisions!!

[C at Sea]

Fancy going back to a Med cruise as haven't been there for 3yrs.

It all seemed much easier to book then!

So - decisions to be made are - shall we book early? Vantage fare and all that jazz or shall we leave it until the last minute and hope to get better deal? What is anyone else deciding to do?

Also, we've seen one we fancy on Oceana on 1st Sept 2013, Western Med. We have sailed on Oceana about 4 times but can't remember much about the cabins.

Can anyone recommend a good balcony cabin on Oceana? We usually like midships best but don't want one in the shade.

Any tips would be great, thanks!

[Host Sharon]

Only you can decide when to book. Personally I like to know I am going and when I am going (not least to book leave at work). Now with the new Vantage fares that means I might get some money back (I have already in fact). But if you can go at short notice, don't mind where you go and am happy to pay upfront immediately, then you can wait and hope. Horses for courses really.

[tom_uk]

We've been put off going for late deals because we've read a lot of stories about people getting bad cabins on late bookings e.g. 600 - 606 on Ventura. We prefer to have all the variable details - cabin, dining arrangements - locked down well in advance, and booking early has often resulted in one or two extras such as free parking and/or OBC. It also helps that in practice we don't seem to mind whenever we meet passengers who've snagged a bargain; we seem to be among those (rare, few?) people who can accept that if we were happy with the deal when we booked, there's no reason not to be happy with it now. Any issues we might have had on this score are addressed by the new Vantage fare policy.

 

All that said, I also recognise that we are fortunate in that we are both still working & earning so perhaps we can be more relaxed about this than those living on pensions or with greater financial commitments. However the time will come when first one, then both of us, will have retired and not be earning, and it might be that we'll look for cheaper fares then. But even then I'm not sure. We really like to know that the cruise details are absolutely nailed down well, and are just what we want, well in advance. It might sound silly, but for us, getting the dining arrangements we want, or the cabin we really want, may always be more important than saving some money. But that's just us.

 

So that's one way of answering your question: how really important is cabin choice (grade, location) to you? Or dining arrangements? If these are things that genuinely don't bother you much, then you sound like people who could go for a late booking with equanimity.

[C at Sea]

Decisions, decisions - decided!!

Booked Vantage fare to Western Med on Oceana Sept 2013!

Happy as got balcony cabin that we wanted. Cheaper fare than original price. Free Coach travel, 10% deposit and then we were given £50 each obc as we are Caribbean level!

Quite happy with all that!

[Tizzy]

It is actually VERY stressful booking a cruise !

However much research you do, you can guarantee someone will have got a better cabin or a better price. You try not to let it upset you but it usually does !

We have been agonising for the past week whether or not to cancel an early booking we made to get a better cabin on Azura. By the time we had made our minds up many of the cabins we had been looking at had been sold.

Cost is more important to us as we live abroad and have to add on extra flights and hotels but we tried to save a bit of money and ended up feeling very unhappy.

I feel like a ton weight has lifted now that we have a cabin we really want, in a position we really want.

I am not going to look at the prices again ! Whats done is done.

[C at Sea]

Exactly! Well said! Enjoy!